My introduction

Your Goddess:My goddess is Athena. Greek Goddess of all trades it seems. Goddess of war, and of peace. Patron of arts and goddess of wisdom. Talk about well-rounded!

Why You Picked Her:I balance my time between the everlasting pursuit of wisdom via education (and some day will be a professor), drawing, and enjoying time with my husband and dog-child. I'm a devoted peacemaker and advisor of others, but am willing to fight if it comes to that. I wear many different hats in my life. Added to that is that I've always pictured Athena as a shapely, but muscled woman. No stick-thin goddess for me thanks! Another interesting aside is that the weight class for women over 150 pounds in triathlons is called the Athena class.

Where You Are Now:At the present, I'm 3 weeks into training for my first triathlon. I'm fairly far away from my ideal of shaply but muscled, but I'm making significant headway. This is really the first positive thing I've done for myself in a long time. Even though weight is not very good for anything but a general indicator, I began at 250 pounds. My long-term goal is to be around 180. My height is 5'8". At present, my training consists of at least 30 minutes a day of either cycling or walk/running (can't run full out yet, but I'm building to it). In a couple of weeks, I will also incorporate swimming into my program. My race is in August. I honestly haven't felt this good about myself in a long time. Even after only three weeks, it feels like I've taken a load off of my mind. I was/am tired of being fat and being judged for it. I've finally started to take action on changing it. It's also afforded me a good amount of mental strength that was needed. I want to work more on my concentration and relaxation. Ideally, I want to learn walking meditation as well. As for nutrition, I eat fairly well. I could stand to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my diet. I probably eat red meat every 2 weeks or so. Drink about 2 liters of water a day.

What Your Immediate Goal Is:In a month - I want to be able to run a full 1.5 miles (half of my goal distance of 3 miles). I want to continue to build on my cycling acheivements with more time/distance. I want to build on my swimming endurance.

In three months - I want to be able to run all 3 miles. I will continue to build my cycling endurance, and will incorporate speedwork, hopefully decreasing my 10 mile time to 30:00. I will be able to swim 500 meters straight in the pool without stopping. And I will complete my first triathlon and become a true triathlete! I hope to be under 230 by this point.

In six months - I want to be winding down a successful base training for the year. I will see my 23rd birthday and hopefully sub 200 for the first time since 8th grade. I will be heading to the gym to maintain my fitness and to build up for next season. I plan to incorporate more weight training at this point. I also plan to be in the final stages of writing my master's thesis and preparing for a move another department for my PhD.